Bout duration: [Top]
All non-championship bouts shall be three rounds.
All championship bouts shall be five rounds.
Rounds will be five minutes in duration.
A one-minute rest period will occur between each round.

Fouls: [Top]
1. Butting with the head.
2. Eye gouging of any kind.
3. Biting.
4. Hair pulling.
5. Fish hooking.
6. Groin attacks of any kind.
7. Putting a finger into any orifice or into any cut or laceration on an opponent.
8. Small joint manipulation.
9. Striking to the spine or the back of the head.
10. Striking downward using the point of the elbow.
11. Throat strikes of any kind, including, without limitation, grabbing the trachea.
12. Clawing, pinching or twisting the flesh.
13. Grabbing the clavicle.
14. Kicking the head of a grounded opponent.
15. Kneeing the head of a grounded opponent.
16. Stomping a grounded opponent.
17. Kicking to the kidney with the heel.
18. Spiking an opponent to the canvas on his head or neck.
19. Throwing an opponent out of the ring or fenced area.
20. Holding the shorts or gloves of an opponent.
21. Spitting at an opponent.
22. Engaging in an unsportsmanlike conduct that causes an injury to an opponent.
23. Holding the ropes or the fence.
24. Using abusive language in the ring or fenced area.
25. Attacking an opponent on or during the break.
26. Attacking an opponent who is under the care of the referee.
27. Attacking an opponent after the bell has sounded the end of the period of unarmed combat.
28. Flagrantly disregarding the instructions of the referee.
29. Timidity, including, without limitation, avoiding contact with an opponent, intentionally or consistently dropping the mouthpiece or faking an injury.
30. Interference by the corner.
31. Throwing in the towel during competition.

Ways To Win: [Top]
1. Submission by:
Physical tap out.
Verbal tap out.
2. Technical knockout by the referee stopping the contest.
3. Decision via the scorecards, including: Unanimous decision [all judges pick the same fighter as the winner]. Split decision [One judge picks one fighter, the other two judges pick the other fighter]. Majority decision [Two of three judges pick the same fighter as the winner, the final judge says the fight was a draw].
Draw, including:
Unanimous draw.
Majority draw.
Split draw.
4. Technical decision.
5. Technical draw.
6. Disqualification.
7. Forfeit.
8. No contest. Referee may Restart the round: [Top]
If the fighters reach a stalemate and do not work to improve position or finish.

I see sometimes rule 9 appear not to be enforced but I've seen a lot of instances where it is enforced so I'll assume its a judgement call as to what is the back of the head.

Then there's rule 18. Spiking the opponent's head or neck onto the canvas is illegal, probably because this can paralyze, kill, or seriously injure an opponent. Yet no foul was called when Pellegrino headplanted Camoes into the canvas at the recent ufc 111. Now I do understand this particular escape was not what the rules were put there for, it was put there probably for judo throws, but what is your take on this? It still looked pretty dangerous to me. Also I don't think this is usually called as a foul for suplexes either.

then there is rule 31. I thought I have heard of fights ending with the towel being thrown in, or was that before this rule was implemented?

The back of the head has been clarified and defined in the Unified Rules, but it's still pretty much a ref's judgment call to determine a deliberate foul as opposed to an accident caused by defender's head movement.

Kurt's throw against Camoes was not an illegal spiking. The spiking in the Unified Rules refers to piledrivers. Any arcing throw, and any slam as a submission defense, are legal maneuvers.

Throwing in the Towel is illegal as only the referee is permitted to stop the bout. If a fighter cannot continue, it is the ref's responsibility to end it.

There was an extensive discussion about downward elbows, what, a couple of months ago? Unfortunately I can’t find it at the moment, but if your search-fu (or available time) is greater than mine, digging through the archives might be productive.

Thank you for the clarification. Pile drivers and other techniques designed to intentionally spike the head makes sense.

Originally Posted by feral00

I still don't get why a downward elbow is illegal, when a regular elbow is legal.

I'm not sure either. I saw John "Bones" Jones get DQ'ed in a match that went on his record as a no-contest against I think Matt Hammill. I'm not sure if it applies to standup fighting at all (ie, a downward arcing elbow to the temple or cheekbone).

I think what Joe Rogan said during that match was it was put in place in order to appease some politicians in some stat that were concerned because they had seen a karate ice breaking demonstration. Ironic thing is that an arcing elbow is likely to be no less hard.

...I'm not sure either. I saw John "Bones" Jones get DQ'ed in a match that went on his record as a no-contest against I think Matt Hammill. I'm not sure if it applies to standup fighting at all (ie, a downward arcing elbow to the temple or cheekbone).

I think what Joe Rogan said during that match was it was put in place in order to appease some politicians in some stat that were concerned because they had seen a karate ice breaking demonstration. Ironic thing is that an arcing elbow is likely to be no less hard.

I think that was the fight everyone was discussing. i remember some explanations against downward elbows because of strikes to the kidneys etc., plus it's considered more dangerous (some **** about the added force of gravity, IIRC). I don't believe that (gravity adding XS speed), but some of the arguments about damage limitation made sense.

I think the point was that sometimes it would be OK, sometimes it's too dangerous, but it's hard to legislate for a "sometimes" move (although knees etc. they do...)

the towel thing is illegal in boxing too. however i dont think ive ever seen a ref not accept the towel throwing thing.

I think they enforce the rule more often now than they used to. I've seen a match where the towel was thrown in and the ref just kicked it back out.. no foul just no aknowledgement lol

"The hero and the coward both feel the same thing, but the hero projects his fear onto his opponent while the coward runs. 'Fear'. It's the same thing, but it's what you do with it that matters". - Cus D'Amato